City Of Angels: Ghosts
by Invicta
Summary: When a convicted murderer escapes, he heads for Las Vegas and some unfinished business. Can Sofia stop history repeating itself? Or will she find herself saying goodbye. Permanently. Part 1 of the 'City Of Angels' series.
1. Chapter 1

**The first story in a series I wrote about a year ago. I'd appreciate any comments – in general, or on specific things – so I know what I've done right and what was a load of crock. I look forward to seeing what you think before I put the next story up.**

"Hey, Doc."

Robbins looked up to see Greg and Sara, field kits in hand, "This is a bad one...identification is going to be difficult," he moved around the body and lifted a hand, "fingers have all been severed and her teeth have been knocked out – not enough left to compare to records." He didn't need to say that a photo would be useless – the woman's face was unrecognisable.

"What about ID on the body?"

Robbins shook his head, "Nothing, and a look around doesn't give you much either – middle of the desert there's no telling where she came from."

"Wanna bet against us?" Sara challenged.

A while later, Sara was taking photos of the victim when something caught her eye, "Hey, Doc? Can you roll the vic for me?"

Robbins motioned for the attendants to do as she said, "What do you see?"

Crouching down, Sara picked up a business card. Holding it up, she read the front of the card, "It's from the LAPD... What's that doing out here?"

Robbins could see the back of the card and read aloud, "One down...two to go..."

The CSI flipped the card over and read the handwritten message, "Hey, Greg? Call Grissom."

Warwick headed towards the break room at CSI. Grissom had paged him with a 911 to meet here. Seeing the rest of the shift already there confused the hell out of him. "What's going on? I was in the middle of a B and E."

"Maybe we're all getting promoted."

Nick laughed, "Last time this happened we got a roomful of mangled evidence."

Catherine mock-shivered, "Don't remind me."

"We're all taking the same case tonight." Grissom announced as he bustled into the room, tossing files to his team as he went, "Greg and Sara pulled a 4-19 off of Boulder Highway. No ID on the victim so far,"

Catherine interrupted her boss, "Ah, Gil? You haven't pulled us off our cases to help ID a body?"

"No. I handed your cases to Days," he emphasised, "because of what was found at the scene." He pushed a photo of the business card across the table.

Nick picked it up and read it, "You think we got a serial?"

"Possibly. The Sheriff's calling LAPD to ask for their help."

"What do we do?" Warwick asked, feeling the adrenaline of a hunt starting to kick in.

"We need to identify the victim. If we do that we can start to look for whomever may have wanted to kill her."

Sara had the unenviable task of attending the post of their victim. Walking towards Doc Robbins, she saw the real damage the killer had caused.

"Hey, Sara."

"COD?"

"Gunshot to the face – probably a shotgun judging by these pellets - at close range, multiple shots. The front of the skull is shattered, the force of the projectiles pushed the bone fragments back into the brain tissue...It would've been quick. Unfortunately, that wasn't what killed her."

Sara raised an eyebrow at that. "She did _not_ live through that_."_

"No. She was already dead. Asphyxiation due to strangulation – broken hyoid bone." He noticed Sara looking at the victim's hands, "Digits were severed postmortem, the teeth were also removed postmortem. He went to a lot of trouble – there were tool marks on some of the stumps, it looks like they were snapped off with pliers off some kind."

"Someone didn't want us to know who she was."

"I've sent blood to DNA and Hodges has the trace."

"Maybe we'll get lucky...Thanks, Doc."

Greg was bored. It seemed a habit recently – being sent off to run someone through a database wasn't his idea of fieldwork. Suddenly, the computer let off a series off flashes and alerts - _...doesn't mean this job isn't interesting though..._ Seeing his supervisor on the other side of the glass wall of the lab, Greg jumped up and started banging on the glass.

"Greg...What the hell?"

"Griss, our victim just sent the computer into meltdown. Look...she's got FBI, US Marshall and LAPD flags on file."

Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose. _Feds. That's all I need right now._

"What do we do?" Greg asked excitedly.

"We follow the evidence."

"What about the feds?"

"They are more than welcome to follow it too." Grissom replied frustratedly as he disappeared out of the lab to meet the Sheriff and a detective from LAPD.

"Hey, Sofia...Wait up.." Jim Brass yelled as he pulled up in the PD parking lot.

"Brass."

"You know what this is about?" he asked as he waved his pager in the air.

"Nope, but I can think of about twenty things I could be doing instead..."

"You think Grissom got a new bug to show us?" he grinned, "Or maybe a shrunken head?"

Sofia Curtis shot him a 'If-it-is-I'm-going-to-kill-Grissom' look and made her way to the CSI layout room.

Sofia and Brass were _still_ waiting in the layout room after nearly twenty minutes; Brass was leaning against a wall while Sofia flicked through crime scene photos that were spread on the table, "What the Hell's going on? We've been here forever..." Brass pushed away from the wall and moved to look over Sofia's shoulder, "What are these?"

Sofia looked up from the photos, "Vic's had half her face blown off – you recognise the case?"

Brass shook his head in reply, "One of Vartann's?" he guessed.

"What's one of mine?" Detective Vartann stuck his head in the door and caught his name being mentioned.

"Geez, Vartann. Did you feel your ears burning?"

Vartann gave Sofia a withering look before addressing his superior, "There's someone or something up at the front desk for the class clown." He jerked a thumb in Sofia's direction as he finished.

Sofia rolled her eyes at him, "Could you be a bit more vague – you know, at least let me have to work for it."

"Do I look like I could give a rat's ass? I'm just passing along the message out of the goodness of my heart. How should I know what kind of weird crap you get?"

"Hey! Children, take it out to the playground...Sofia, you might as well see what it is, if you're needed, I'll send my errand boy to find you."

Sofia accidentally-on-purpose shouldered Vartann on the way out and received a glare for her trouble. Brass couldn't figure out what it was with those two, but it seemed to work and neither of them took it to heart. Banter between the troops was a good thing – reminded him of his best friend from Jersey and his kid sister.

Brass shrugged it off as Grissom and the Sheriff walked in with a visitor.

"Jim...I believe you know Captain Kramer."

Brass smiled and nodded at the detective, "Annie. What brings you to town?"

"It's good to see you," Kramer evaded the question, "Shall we get down to business?"

All five gathered around the table as the Sheriff opened a file and continued, "Grissom, your 4-19 off of Boulder Highway,"

"We just confirmed ID with a DNA match...Sally Jessop...lives in Henderson."

"Sally Jessop was a key witness in an LA case against a big drug cartel. She was in witness protection." The Sheriff paused and looked around the table. Kramer had the same look she'd had when she arrived in LVPD, Grissom looked...like Grissom, and Brass was listening intently.

Kramer cleared her throat and reached for the photos Sofia had been looking at earlier, "Sally Jessop testified at the trial of Juanito. He worked for a big drugs ring headed by these two," Kramer laid out surveillance photos of a Latino male and a Caucasian female, "Carlos Meck and Lucy Evans. Juanito was their 'enforcer' and he was very violent and very good."

"We have no evidence linking him to our case, and if he's in jail..."

"Mr Grissom, Juanito escaped from prison two days ago. We have reason to believe he would come to Vegas."

"If he's jumped states, why aren't the Feds all over this?" Brass asked.

"I have a friend who's holding them off for now."

A knock on the door frame distracted everyone, "Hey, Griss? AFIS kicked out a name on the print Greg found on the duct tape. You coming?" Sara waited for Grissom to answer.

"We recovered a print on the tape used to restrain the victim." he explained to the room.

"What's the name?" Kramer asked.

"Marc Nolan. Minor drugs offences." Sara slowly answered, cocking an eyebrow at Grissom.

"CSI stays out of this until I say so," Kramer said as she headed for the door, "I've got to brief someone else on this so I'll take him with me.."

Everybody filed out but Brass hung back while Kramer collected her papers. He knew there was more to this than his friend was letting on.

"Where's Sofia?"

"She got called away. I can kinda see how you might want an old friend in on this...but why Sofia? And why freeze out CSI? There the best team I've worked with."

Kramer put her files back down on the table with a sigh. "The case was Sofia's when she was a rookie detective in LA. I thought she might want in. She's also the only one who can really handle Jake."

"Jake who?"

"Jake Barret. Her ex-" Kramer stopped quickly, then recovered herself, "partner. He's the one I've got to meet."

"I can let her know-"

Kramer quickly cut him off. "Whoa, Jimmy. Do not tell her Jake is involved."

"No?"

"I'm in no hurry for that little reunion."

Brass nodded his understanding; he didn't really understand, Sofia was a good cop and he'd never heard of any trouble in the department. He figured it must be down to this Barret guy.

"Hey, Jimmy?...Think you can get me out of this place?"

Brass laughed, "I think I can walk a lady out."

As the detectives got closer to the main entrance of the CSI building, Kramer recognised the shouting. She'd wanted to keep the two of them apart unless absolutely necessary. They rounded the corner and saw Grissom and Sara caught up in the middle of one Hell of an argument between Sofia and a well-dressed man. Kramer groaned, "Jimmy, meet Jake Barret. Special Agent-in-Charge of the Las Vegas Field Office."

"...No way!"

"If Juanito's there you'll need the help."

"Your staying at PD until further notice."

"You can't tell me what to do, Jake." Sofia snapped back and pushed past him out the door towards her car.

Jake grabbed Sofia's arm and pulled her back, "The Hell I can't. This is now a federal case. You'll do what I tell you or I'll have you detained for obstructing a federal officer."

She looked down at his hand and then back up to his face, silently testing to see if he was serious. Still looking at Jake, she addressed Grissom, "I'll need everything you have on Sally Jessop's murder – and I wanna be in the loop on any new evidence."

"Sara can you get the reports to Sofia?" he asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"I'll get to Juanito before you do Jake – I promised Sally."

Jake opened his mouth to shout after Sofia as she stalked back to PD but instead he wiped his hand across his face.

Grissom and Brass were left wondering what the hell was going on as Sara disappeared to organise the case files for Sofia.

"What the hell just happened?" The CSI asked his friend; he was not having a good shift and this was the last thing he needed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sofia was still steaming at her desk when Greg appeared at her elbow, "Sara said you wanted all the files on the Jessop case..."

Without looking away from her reading, Sofia waved an arm in the general direction of the desk, "Just put them down."

"She said you flipped out at a Fed."

Sofia looked up and snapped, "She should keep her damn mouth shut." she then slammed her chair back from the desk and stared at Greg – daring him to say something.

"Oookay..." Greg decided he had something very important to do somewhere else and left the detective to it. He passed Brass heading towards Sofia and warned him, "You need a chair and a whip if you're going over there."

Brass stopped and watched the young woman flipping through case notes, "I'll take my chances."

Annie Kramer was at that moment, biting her tongue. As his former superior, she felt like she should be ripping Jake a new one for how he behaved. As his friend, she knew it was probably best if she just let the two of them work it out. Unfortunately, she couldn't resist giving her two cents. "You shouldn't have done that."

Jake glanced across to the passenger seat, "You said go left..." he replied innocently.

Kramer rolled her eyes, "That's not what I meant. You need to work with Sofia."

"Why?"

"Why?! Because she deserves to be involved. It was her case too."

Jake snorted a laugh, "After the last time? You'll forgive me if I want to keep my distance..."

"LAPD's still redecorating." she said under her breath, but not quietly enough.

Laughing, Jake relented, "Fine. I'll let her sit in on the interviews. Happy?"

Kramer suddenly understood what he was doing, "You're keeping her out of the field. That's it, isn't it?"

Jake interrupted, "We're here."

"What's going on Jake..."

"Leave it."

Kramer said no more, getting out and leaning on the roof of the car. She had a pretty good idea what was going on, and it wasn't FBI grandstanding in front of the locals. The Captain was left with the same feeling she used to get when Jake and Sofia were rookie detectives at LAPD, "It's never easy..."

Brass, Grissom and Kramer were sat in Brass's office. Each had a drink in their hand and looked like they needed it.

"Marc Nolan was a dead end. He works on a construction site so anyone could have used his tape. He's got no connection to the original case."

"Physical findings from the coroner are still pending."

"So we're back to square one?" Brass asked his friends.

"We're still processing evidence. All we've got is your gut saying it's this Juanito that's responsible for Sally Jessop's murder."

"Not just my gut," Kramer replied to the scientist, "Something has got Jake spooked."

"Grissom's right, Annie. Your gut and a jumpy fed isn't enough."

"We need to see what the evidence says. Then we'll make our next move." The two police officers suppressed the eye roll that should have accompanied Grissom's comment; both of them knew that the evidence at the body dump had given them precisely zip, so far. The only way they were getting anymore evidence was from probable cause – and that came from good old-fashioned police work.

Kramer shook her head and finished her drink, "We _need_ Jake and Sofia to grow up and start working together."

"What the hell's with those two?"

"They don't get along." Kramer shrugged.

"No kidding." Brass replied with a look.

Grissom's pager took that moment to go berserk, and he made his excuses, leaving to deal with the latest crisis.

Brass watched him go and then fixed his gaze on his old friend. "So, Annie. There's a lot more going on here...Why don't you tell me about the part you're not telling me?"

Sofia was outside PD, she needed a break from the dead ends she kept running into. She'd spent the night before, and most of the morning, trying to trace Juanito after his break out. Brass found her lying on a bench with one arm draped over her eyes.

"Keep it up and someone'll throw you in the drunk tank." he smiled.

"I'm not in the mood, Jim." she mumbled from under her jacket.

"I got Annie drunk last night – she spilled her guts."

Sofia raised her arm up enough to shift her jacket and squint at the detective. After studying him for a while, she sat up and rubbed the exhaustion from her face.

"It gets worse every time – that's why we haven't spoken for ten years. The last time we went after this guy...we lost everything. Jake lost his best friend. Our lives just started unraveling. You know that's the reason I got bumped to CSI? Sheriff didn't want to have a broken cop. I thought coming to Las Vegas, I could forget about him."

Brass watched his young colleague and then nodded, "Are we talking about Juanito or..."

Sofia grimaced. "She told you about that too, huh?"

Grissom had a headache, literally and figuratively. His team and most of the lab staff had been commandeered by the Sheriff to 'help our friends at the Bureau in any way we can', his shift currently consisted of all the people Ecklie didn't like. Apparently, Warrick Brown and Sara were the only current occupants of that list. Grissom put the phone back to his ear as he sensed the lab director ending his speech.

"...I just don't have a bottomless pit of CSIs, Gil. The Sheriff took Greg, Nick and Catherine. You've still got half your team. If you need evidence processed faster then you'll just have to do it yourself."

"Gee...thanks, Conrad." Grissom didn't get quite the satisfaction he wanted when he jabbed a finger at the cellphone to end the call. It made him wish he'd used the phone on his desk. Apparently, the promise that everyone's case load would be handed over to Days had been a figment of his imagination.

_A probable serial killer on the loose and half my team to cover Vegas on a Friday night...I should have gone into academia._

"So what _exactly_ do we have?"

Greg looked around the table at his colleagues before realising that Barret was talking to him. The FBI agent had asked to be briefed on the evidence CSI had collected with Sally Jessop's body.

"What's this?"

Greg saw that he'd picked up the LAPD card. "We found that under the victim. That's why the Sheriff contacted Captain Kramer." He pointed out her name on the card and then took it from Jake and turned it over, "That's why he's got a stick up his ass – he's up for re-election and he really doesn't need a serial killer on the loose," he lowered his voice and whispered, "It's bad for votes."

Nick Stokes smirked at his friend's joke. No matter how good a Sheriff was, they were always worried about what the voters would think.

Jake didn't appear to have heard the CSI; his attention was focused on the message scribbled on the back of the card. He pulled the evidence sheet across the desk and signed it before stuffing the card into his jacket pocket. "You don't tell a soul about this card, okay? No colleagues or police officers, not even if they're working this case."

Catherine Willows made a grab for the sheet as the FBI man left without another word. "You're welcome." She looked at the sheet and sighed, "At least he signed for it properly, and we have a copy on the computer system."

The Las Vegas Field Office wasn't as busy as it used to be. Jake surprised himself as he crept into his office. He shook himself out of his paranoia and sat down at his desk and started on the phone calls he needed to make. Kramer answered her phone on the third ring. "Skipper? Have you seen this card they found with the body?...What do you think?...Meck and Lopez...yeah, me too. Okay, thanks." Jake let out a breath and unlocked the drawer on his right. He found the letter he was looking for and then called up a file on his laptop. He scanned the letter and the card before making his final call.

"_Billy Makepeace._"

"Billy. I'm sending you three files. I want you to compare them for me."

There was silence for a moment as Makepeace waited for the files to transfer. "_There's no casefile number on these, Jake. What's it for?_"

"This is on the QT, Billy. It's unofficial. I want the results to come to me only."

Another pause followed as Makepeace considered what he was being asked to do. "_You just want a professional opinion from a friend?_"

Jake was relieved that his friend was willing to bend the rules for him. "Something like that, yeah."

"_I'll see what I can do._"


	3. Chapter 3

"Jackass!"

Jake burst out laughing, "Ten years and that's the best you got?"

"Kramer took my gun."

Jake didn't believe her, "Really?" when Sofia nodded he started smiling again, "I guess I'm safe then – you can't take me in a fist fight."

"Don't tempt me..." Sofia replied with a face like thunder.

Falling against the wall, Jake was starting to get pissed, "What the hell is she doing? She can't seriously expect to keep us in here forever."

"Just until we make nice..." Sofia trailed off, "You're right. We'll be here forever." she smiled sarcastically.

They stood at opposite ends of the interrogation room in silence for what seemed like an eternity, "I didn't mean to do it." Jake whispered so quietly that Sofia wasn't sure she'd heard him right.

"What?"

"Hurt you." He said, looking up from the floor that had been so interesting moments before.

"Don't Jake-"

He cut her off, "No, I don't know what I did to get you so damn mad at me...But I apologise..."

Sofia stared at him, her eyebrows nearly shot through the ceiling, "You don't know...?!! Let's see, Jake..." She started ticking things off on her fingers, "You ruined my credibility. You destroyed my confidence. I stopped trusting people. I had to move _states_ because of you. I haven't had a serious relationship since you..."

Well, that explains it." Jake replied with a click of his fingers. Sofia just stared at him, "You're cranky 'cause you need to get laid!".

Jake couldn't believe she'd just slapped him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that – but dammit he was angry with her, too. "I try to apologise when – quite frankly – I don't think I've done anything wrong, and you blame me for your failings? You can't blame me for everything, Sofia!"

She ignored him and stood by the door. Folding her arms across her chest, she was going to wait until Kramer let them out.

"Sofia..." Jake said quietly. He never could stand getting the silent treatment.

"What do you want Jake?! You want me to forgive you?" she spun round to face him.

"I wish you didn't have to. Sonny was your friend, too... I wasn't there when you needed me and I'm sorry..." he smiled at her, "Although, in my defence, I had been shot...I wasn't at my best. Sometimes life gets the better of you and I just didn't know how to cope. Neither of us did. You should know that...I didn't want things to..." He took a breath and then tried again, "I meant every word I said to my father."

He knew exactly what she was angry about and his honesty stunned Sofia. She didn't know what to say. This man had hurt her so much...but some habits are hard to break, and as the first tears fell, she let him hold her and she felt ten years younger...

Brass was standing on the other side of the two-way mirror. He flinched as a file flew into the glass in front of him. A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to see Kramer.

"They've been at it for a half hour." He flinched again as Sofia jabbed a finger at Jake's chest to emphasise a point.

Kramer was about to ask him how it was going when Sofia answered Jake with an almighty slap across his face. "Well...that's progress." she said, almost as surprised as Jake had been. Jim looked at her like she'd just sprouted another head, "Trust me, Jim...this manhunt is going nowhere. Those two tracked him down before, they can do it again – once they sort themselves out. "

"I'll take evens they kill each other first."

Kramer pointed at the glass, seeing Jake with one arm pulling Sofia against his chest while the other dug around in his jacket pocket. She answered her cell as soon as it started chirping.

"Unlock the damn door."

Kramer walked out of the observation area and round to the door of the interrogation room she had locked her 'kids' in. She motioned for Brass to wait outside as she went in.

"Get the troops together, we need to cover every possible place this sonuvabitch is hiding."

"We don't know where to start, Jake. He's in the wind."

"We shake down any contacts he's got. Make it too much of a risk to help him."

"That won't work – Juanito's a lot scarier than we are." Sofia had worked free of Jake's arm and composed herself before waving away the argument she knew was coming, "However...we can revoke parole and pull in any outstanding warrants."

A cough caused all three to turn to where Brass was standing, "Sorry to interrupt but...this just came for you Agent Barret." Jim handed over an envelope and stood back.

"Is it important?" Kramer asked as Jake's face got paler the further he read.

"No." he said, quickly shoving the note into his pocket, "I've got some business to attend to."

"I'm coming with you." Now she didn't want to kill him, Sofia noticed what had already got Kramer worried – something had got Jake Barret spooked.

"No." When Sofia started to follow him, Jake turned, "What the hell are you doing?"

Sofia pointed to the pocket that contained the note, "You're still a really bad liar."

Jake wasn't in the mood to argue any more.

Jake and Sofia had driven to a park in the Vegas suburbs. In the early evening dusk, both could see that it was deserted. Jake hadn't explained the reason for their stake out but she was just grateful they were finally following some sort of lead.

They were interrupted by Jake's cellphone ringing. Sofia only caught half of the conversation but it seemed to make Jake sit up a little more in his seat.

"Are you sure, Billy? All three are the same?...No...Thanks. Bye."

Jake ended the call and Sofia could tell he was turning whatever he'd just learned over in his mind. The longer he thought about it, the more nervous he seemed to get.

"What exactly are we waiting for?" Jake didn't reply, so Sofia glanced across to see him concentrating on something in the mirror, "Jake...?"

"Get out of the car."

"Wha-"

"GET OUT!!!"

Emergency vehicles arrived within minutes of the explosion. Jake and Sofia had been thrown ten feet by the blast and were being checked out by the EMTs when Kramer and Brass arrived.

"Are you alright?" Kramer asked as she squatted in front of Sofia.

"I'm fine, by the way." Jake interrupted.

Kramer turned to look at him, "You are an idiot. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't know someone was gonna fire a bloody rocket at us!"

"What happened?" Brass decided it was wise to get their statements before things descended into another fight.

"I didn't see anything. Jake's spider-sense started tingling and the car exploded." Sofia shrugged. Kramer smiled at the reference to their LAPD days – Jake's 'spider-sense' was legendary.

Jake made a face at her and said, "It came from those trees." He waved an arm at the smoldering wreck that was his car.

Nick and Catherine had arrived at the same time as the detectives. They made a beeline for the car and started looking for evidence of the weapon.

"Why would someone do this?"

Catherine looked back towards Nick from the tree line, "It seems a little excessive – from what I can see, it was some serious hardware."

"I hear you...They were lucky to get out...Y'know, I don't think we're being told the whole story... Sofia and Barret were both LAPD – I think they're the two that card was talking about."

Catherine stopped what she was doing and stared at Nick incredulously. "Nicky, the guy is picking off the people who put him away. The star witness and the lead detectives would be at the top of my hit list. Who else is it going to be?".

"Is there any way to trace it?" Brass asked the room.

"A partial serial number from a bit of the grenade." Nick replied.

Jake nodded, "I can see if it's in any of our databases, it could give us a place to start."

"This is the best lead we've got so far. Track this weapon and we might be able to put together some of Juanito's movements." Kramer sounded more confident than she felt.

"Well, we know he was on Boulder Highway to dump the body." Greg pointed out.

At that moment, Sofia stuck her head into the break room, "Jake...tell me I'm brilliant."

Jake looked up, "What have you got?" Sofia raised an eyebrow at him and he let out a sigh, "You're brilliant. Show me the damn paper."

"I had Archie pull all the traffic cameras around the dump site." She said as she handed over the report.

"Put out a BOLO – get patrol to report the vehicle but do not approach."

Sofia left to get Dispatch to relay the message.

Kramer was looking at Jake, "What?"

A slow smile spread across her face, "She didn't try to kill you. In fact, it was almost like old times."

Jake made a face in reply, "We called a truce."

Two days into their manhunt and all they had was a possible vehicle that their suspect had probably already dumped. Jake was still waiting to hear back from the FBI about the grenade launcher...

Something was keeping Juanito in Las Vegas beyond revenge against the witness. She decided to see if the CSIs had turned anything else up from Sally Jessop. Sofia hadn't been told about the business card, Jake had seen to that.

Sofia found Greg in the AV lab, "Hey." she greeted, perching on a seat behind the young man.

Greg turned slightly to acknowledge her, "Hey, yourself."

"What are you looking at?"

"Juanito's file...I figured there might be something in here," he paused for a moment, "You really took this guy down?"

"A lifetime ago..."

"I think I'd have called in the National Guard."

Sofia laughed, "We had SWAT...And Jake thought he was Superman so..."

"How long were you married?"

Sofia was silent for a long time before answering, "Four years...How did you...?"

"It was in the file."

"Oh."

"I'm surprised they're still letting the two of you work the case." he turned back to the big screen in front of him.

Sofia was confused, "What are you talking about, Greg?"

He pulled up the business card found at the crime scene, "It's pretty obvious who he means."

"That stupid sonuva..." Sofia's tirade was lost to Greg as she bolted out of the room.

"C'mon, Josef! We both know that if anyone wants wheels for a little job, you're the man to come to. I'm not going to arrest you...I just want to know about this truck."

Josef had been easy enough to find. Jake knew he hit the Dragon's Den bar at the same time every Sunday. The place was dark, dirty and stank of things Jake hadn't smelt since college. The atmosphere was not helping his mood.

"Why should I know anything about it?"

Jake grabbed the smaller man by the ear and twisted, "Not tonight, Josephine. Where is this truck?"

"OW! OW! FINE! I dropped it off at an old airstrip – out of town – I don't remember the name."

"Thank you, Josef. You've been most helpful."

"Where's Jake?"

Kramer and Brass looked up as Sofia skidded to a halt in front of them. "He went back to his office to run some information through the FB-"

"No, he didn't."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've seen the note. Why the hell didn't anyone show me?"

"Jake said it wasn't relevant. Juanito wouldn't be looking for Meck and Lopez in Las Vegas – something else is keeping him in town."

Sofia couldn't believe what she was hearing – from Kramer of all people. "'Wasn't relevant'!...The last thing Juanito said was that we'd be dead before he was!"

"Jake knew that?"

"He was there when he said it!"

Kramer sudden had a nasty feeling in her gut, "What's he up to?"

The young woman gave an exasperated sigh, "Apart from going off half-cocked? I think those notes he's getting are from Juanito. He got another one today, but he didn't want me to know about it, he suddenly got very interested in that truck from the traffic camera."

"He's not stupid, Sofia." Kramer started dialing the number Jake had given her. After a brief conversation, she reported back, "That was the Vegas Field Office. They say he's there...I left a message for him to call as soon as he can."

Sofia relented, "Fine."

Brass had known Sofia long enough to know that wasn't the end of it, "She's not gonna drop this, is she?" he asked, looking at Kramer.

"Oh, I'd put money on it."


	4. Chapter 4

Greg was just returning to the lab after grabbing a couple of hours sleep, seeing him in the reception area, Sofia called out, "Hey, Greg? Can you give me a lift home? Jake's taken my car."

"Uh...Sure..."

"Great!" she smiled back, not slowing her pace one bit as she headed for the lot.

As Greg pulled out of LVPD, Sofia came clean, "We're not going to my house."

Greg was a little stunned, "Uh...Where are we going?"

Sofia was drumming on the door, "Juanito's a sadistic bastard...He'll pick a warehouse like Van Nuys..." Greg realised that she was talking to herself, "Is there a deserted cold store anywhere?" Greg didn't answer so she turned to look at him, "Greg?"

"Oh...sorry..." he thought for a second and then hesitantly replied, "It's not a cold store, but there's a lot of hangers on an abandoned airstrip about three miles out of town. It looks a bit like the photos I was looking at in the old case file. Where are we going?"

Sofia thought for a moment, "These hangars remind you of the warehouse from our case in Van Nuys?" she asked for confirmation. Greg nodded 'yes'. Sofia considered him for a moment and then took him at his word. "That's where we're going."

Brass and Grissom were updating the Sheriff in the latter's office when Kramer rapped on the door, "Sorry, gentlemen...Jim, have you seen Sofia?"

Jim gave a questioning look to Grissom who shrugged back, "No..."

Kramer closed her eyes and blew out a sharp breath, "Great...now I've lost both of them."

"Is everything alright?" the Sheriff asked.

"Sir, when those two go AWOL, it usually means they're up to something."

"And that's a bad thing?"

Kramer leaned against the door frame, "Oh, yeah..."

Sofia was squinting against the early morning sunlight as she spoke to Greg through the window of his truck."Greg, I want you to stay in the car. Whatever happens, don't come after me, okay? If anything goes bad – get out of here and then call it in."

Greg had parked the truck behind Jake's car. He wasn't thrilled about going all 'Die Hard' but he was fairly sure that Sofia wouldn't get him killed...

Sofia was making her way forward to Jake's car when the access door to the hangar opened. Jake emerged slowly, holstering his weapon. He noticed the second car and saw Sofia almost immediately. As he cleared the doorway, Sofia saw him lurch forward and immediately remembered ten years ago when Juanito had shot him. The man himself appeared behind Jake and it was then that Sofia saw the syringe in his hand. Juanito also spotted her and began dragging Jake's limp form back inside. Moments later, a van sped out of the hangar to the sound of Sofia's desperate gunfire.

"Greg! Follow that van!" she yelled, throwing herself into the car. It didn't take long before they lost the van in the Vegas traffic. "Dammit!" Sofia slammed her hands on the dash.

"I got the license plate."

Sofia was angry with herself and shouted back, "He's probably changed vehicle by now!"

Greg kept his eyes on the road as he pulled over and parked.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"You need to calm down...If you wanna help him you need to be thinking with this," he tapped the side of his head "and you need to tell me what we do now."

Sofia once again found herself misjudging the young man, he was the only one who had really listened to her about Juanito and now he was the one offering to help.

"Greg, you read the case file from LA. This isn't a walk in the park."

"I know. I also know that this is personal – you wouldn't be doing your Bruce Willis impression otherwise."

Greg had a way of disarming Sofia and this time was no exception. After keeping her past locked away from her friends for so long, the last ten years of grief came pouring out. "He killed a rookie patrolman by nailing his head to the floor. He shot our best friend dead right in front of us; Jake got shot when we arrested Juanito. We didn't stop until he was in jail," Greg waited for her to continue, "Jake blamed himself for Sonny's death and I didn't cope very well with him being shot." Sofia was quiet for a moment, "I thought I'd lost him."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you split up?"

Sofia was leaning back against the seat, "Jake got addicted to his painkillers and he changed. Both of us did. That's why this is personal, Greg." She leaned towards him, "That sonuvabitch took something away from us that we can't get back."

"Then I guess we'd better get to Mr Curtis before anything happens to him..."

Despite herself, Sofia couldn't help smiling at his loyalty.

By the time Sofia and Greg made it back to the Crime lab, a package had arrived. Kramer, Brass, and Grissom were in the AV lab watching the video that had been couriered.

"What's this?" Sofia asked, before being shushed by the others.

"_...I don't think it's too much to ask, do you?_" The man in the video pulled Jake's head back violently, "_This pig and his whore tried to take my life – so I'll take theirs_." Juanito pressed his gun into Jake's shoulder, "_Just not yet, hmm?_"

Greg was the closest to Sofia as her legs buckled, and Brass moved to her side immediately.

"Whoa!..easy, let's get you out of here..."

Sofia let them guide her out of the room, but as she left she heard the gunshot and then Jake screaming in pain. "Greg, I think I'm going to be sick..."

Kramer had taken over the CSI layout room. Sofia, Greg and Brass were the only ones she had allowed in.

"...the rest of the tape is more gloating."

"What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter, Sofia..."

"Everything matters."

Kramer hesitated so Sofia fixed her glare on Brass, "He was daring us to find Barret."

Sofia sat up, suddenly very interested, "What do you mean?"

"You know, typical psychopath stuff – he said he was gonna leave Barret to die in the worst possible way. If we figure it out we can get to him first...He's playing mind games with you – playing on your familiarity."

"But that means he's still alive. We can find him."

Brass shared a look with Kramer, "I'm sorry, Sofia. I think we're looking for a body."

"No. There is a reason Juanito sent us that tape. There's no point trying to trace where he was in the tape – he'll be long gone by now."

"Sofia...Juanito is looking at the death penalty. He wanted both of you but Jake got closer than he expected. He'll kill Jake and then disappear. He won't risk getting caught." Kramer decided to lay it all out on the table. As much as she wanted to believe they could find Jake alive, Kramer wasn't convinced they'd find him, period.

Sofia was pacing like a caged animal and Greg had stopped listening to the others. He figured Sofia knew this Juanito better than anyone else so he followed her line of thinking, "Where's the worst possible place, Sofia?" He looked round at the others for support but didn't get it, "C'mon, Sofia. If this guy is going to leave Jake somewhere to die, where would Jake hate to be?"

Sofia suddenly looked up from the floor. "The water! Jake's terrified of water! Somewhere where he'd be in the water."

He thought for a moment and then realised the obvious, "There's a lot of water in Lake Meade."

Kramer and Brass had followed Sofia, with Brass calling for an ambulance as they drove. Both cars were tearing towards the lake although the more experienced detectives were expecting to be disappointed. They didn't even know if they were going to the right area – Lake Meade had a huge shoreline – but Sofia was sure Juanito would be in a boat, so they headed to the most secluded place where you could launch a boat. The time of year meant the area was pretty much desolate so it was easy to spot the solitary boat heading out as the cars skidded to a halt. Sofia didn't even stop to kill the engine as she raced to the water line, she was knee deep in the freezing water when the first bullet whizzed past her head.

"Sofia! Get down!" Brass yelled as Kramer called for assistance and the police launch.

If she heard him, Sofia didn't pay any attention. She was banking on being a better shot than Juanito, as she steadied herself and took aim, she whispered several prayers...

Jake was as close to unconscious as you could get, but he knew he was in a boat – and a boat meant water. He felt Juanito pull him up to his feet...

Sofia cursed as Juanito used Jake as a shield. There was no way she could take a shot from this far away and be sure of hitting the right person...

Jake was aware that something was going on but he was too far gone to understand. As he finally felt the blackness coming, he could've sworn he saw Sofia coming to rescue him..._My God, I'll never live that down..._

Sofia saw Juanito struggling with Jake and got ready. When he pushed Jake over it was all the time she needed. He went down with the first shot. She heard the screech of tyres and looked back to see the ambulance arriving. This time Brass didn't even get to shout a warning as his young partner tossed her gun and disappeared into the water.

The water was freezing as Sofia dived in. She frantically searched for Jake, going deeper as she realised he would be sinking – the thought making her go even faster. Finally, her arm struck something solid and she grabbed the front of Jake's shirt. She started to pull him up but her lungs were burning. Letting him go, Sofia kicked for the surface – to the relief of Kramer and Brass on the shore – and sucked in as much air as she could. With one more effort she got Jake up to the surface. Seeing the police launch approaching in the distance, she decided it would be quicker to swim for land. Police officers and paramedics rushed into the water as they got within reach, pulling both of them out. Sofia was lying on her back, gasping for air, as the paramedics worked on Jake.

"You know you're as crazy as he is?!" Kramer yelled as she finally fought her way through the crowd to Sofia.

Sofia just smiled, "I'm fine, by the way."

Kramer was standing outside Jake's hospital room when Greg appeared, "Captain Kramer?"

"That was good work today - Greg, isn't it?"

"Yes, ma'am...How are they?"

Jake had received three bullet wounds in total and had been beaten to within an inch of is life, Sofia was suffering from exposure but they'd both survive. Kramer simply said, "They'll be fine."


End file.
